Motorcycles, Events, Leather, Helmets and Apparel Blog

What Your Bike Color Says, Not About You, But To Birds

The first decision you have to make when buying a new motorcycle is which brand and model. They are important decisions since the manufacturer and model have to please you since you’ll be riding them for years to come. But the second decision is probably as crucial as the first, namely what color.

It may sound strange that color would be so important, but according to a recent survey done by British retailing group Halfords, depending on the color of a car, more or less bird droppings may be found. In other words, if you have got the wrong color, be prepared to be cleaning more.

The survey was made on cars, but it applies to motorcycles as well. The surface is just smaller for birds to make their deposits, but make them they will.

The survey of 1140 cars showed that 18% of cars that received bird poop were red. The next in line were blue cars at 14%, black at 11%, white at 7% and grey or silver at 3%.

The lucky ones? Kawasaki owners should be happy, since only 1% of green cars got hit by bird droppings.

Of course this is not a scientific study, but a survey. Color is not the only determining factor for a bird; location, shelter, threats etc all play a factor. But one thing is for sure, if your motorcycle has been targeted by birds, clean it off immediately. Paint will deteriorate if you don’t remove the bird droppings. You will start seeing discoloration, and that is a bad thing. And that goes especially for Ducati and Honda owners, since your motorcycles are predominantly red.

The only thing you can do if your motorcycle “sleeps” outside is put a motorcycle cover over it.